King Speech Offers Obama a Chance to Talk Race

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President Obama will have an opportunity Sunday not only to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. but to reach out again to African Americans who have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn.

[Check out our editorial cartoons on President Obama.]

Obama is scheduled to speak at the official dedication of the King Memorial on the National Mall, the same place where the martyred civil-rights leader gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech in August 1964. The ceremony was originally scheduled for the 48th anniversary date of the King address nearly two months ago, but it was postponed because Hurricane Irene was bearing down on the capital.

Obama is expected to speak about how King's ideals of non-violence, love, justice, and racial equality are still very relevant today. And he is expected to link those ideals to his own use of government to reduce poverty and strengthen the economy. For an interesting analysis of the upcoming speech, read this Huffington Post article from this morning: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/14/mlk-memorial-dedication-o_n_1010499.html

Obama, the first African American president, has been under pressure from some black leaders and activists, including members of Congress, commentators and academics, to develop an agenda specifically designed to help African Americans. But Obama has refused, arguing that his overall agenda will benefit everyone, including blacks. Democratic strategists also say it would be political suicide for him to favor one racial group over another and thereby risk alienating white voters across the country.

[See a slide show of 10 reasons Obama should be re-elected.]

This is the same "race-neutral" approach that Obama has taken since he took office. In fact, he made these points in an interview with me for my recent book, Family of Freedom: Presidents and African Americans in the White House. He said, "The legacy I hope to leave is a more prosperous, more secure, more confident America. And if that happens, then I think you're also going to see continued improvement in race relations in this country."

The intensity of Obama's support among African Americans has eroded a bit, partly because of high unemployment in the black community, but he remains popular among most black voters.

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Fidel Castro calls Obama U.N. speech "gibberish"

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By Jeff Franks

HAVANA | Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:26am EDT

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro accused President Barack Obama of speaking "gibberish" in his recent address to the United Nations and called NATO's actions in Libya a "monstrous crime" on Monday in his first opinion column since early July.

Castro, 85, has been mostly out of sight the past few months, which combined with the absence of his usual steady flow of columns, had prompted rumors his health was worsening.

He wrote he was involved in work that occupied all his time and therefore he had not been writing what he calls his "reflections." But he said he wanted to comment on the U.N. General Assembly in New York and in particular Obama's speech last week.

The reflection was published on Cuban government website www.cubadebate.cu.

Castro was his vintage self in his latest piece, blasting Obama and the United States, his ideological foes and favorite rhetorical targets, for what he views as bellicose and hypocritical behavior. He called Obama the "yankee president."

Castro, who led Cuba for 49 years before health and age forced him to cede power to younger brother Raul Castro in 2008, quoted extensively from Obama's General Assembly speech, inserting paragraphs of his opinions of the U.S. leader's words.

"In spite of the shameful monopoly of the mass information media and the fascist methods of the United States and its allies to confuse and deceive world opinion, the resistance of the people grows, and that can be appreciated in the debates being produced in the United Nations," he wrote.

Castro called into question many points in Obama's speech, accusing him of misrepresenting the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. policy on Israel and Palestine and the uprisings this year in several Arab nations.

"Who understands this gibberish of the President of the United States in front of the General Assembly?" he asked.

He said the General Assembly presented political difficulties for many countries trying to decide the positions they should take on numerous issues.

"For example, what position to adopt about the genocide of NATO in Libya?" Castro wrote. "Does anyone wish it recorded that under their direction, the government of their country supported the monstrous crimes by the United States and its NATO allies?"

Castro did not describe the project that had taken him away from his column writing, but his allies President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia said recently he was working on something to do with agriculture.

He promised another column on the U.N. General Assembly would be forthcoming.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

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Zogby: Jobs speech helped Obama launch campaign

Home > policy & politics > Washington Whispers > Zogby: jobs speech helped Obama launch-campaign-9. September 2011-print

Pollster John Zogby updated our per Obama report card with the touch of the performance of the President. Zogby continues its surveys, expert analysis and interaction with major players to come with a class and some comments that capture, how he sees the President week ending.

John Zogby on week: 138

"After see his job approval (39 percent) and" deserves re-election "(33_Prozent) polls all-time lows hit and the percentage who say that the United States are on the wrong track jobs to Congress reach the high tenure (75percent), required President Obama a demonstration of strength in his presentation." He did that, Republicans, to secure a plan, which has twice as much in tax cuts, as it has on expenditure; and then below double on the deficit statement promising proposals for even more deficit reduction. He will ask his party to savings from Medicare and Medicaid swallow. "Obama promises, his case to every corner of the nation, to meet, which are not, forcing the Republicans a legislative victory, but will can help to him at least him to start his 2012 campaign by running for an unpopular and dysfunctional Congress."

This week class: B-.

Last week: C-.

John Zogby is Chairman of the Board and Chief Insights Officer of IBOPE Zogby International, impartial public opinion, research, and business solutions company with experience working in over 70 countries around the world. IBOPE Zogby International telephone, Internet, and personal market research and analysis for corporate, political, specialized non-profit and government customers. The company is headquartered in Utica, New York John Zogby is also the author of the art and way we'll be: the Zogby report on the transformation of the American dream (Random House).

Tags: John Zogby, 2012 presidential elections, Congress, Barack Obama, deficit and national debt 2011: 2010: 2009: 2008: 2007: 2006:

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